The Bruins did not have much to work with when preparing for the Cal Baptist Lancers this week.
Outside hitter Garret Muagututia was out for the game. And because Cal Baptist is not in the Bruins’ conference, the coaches had nothing more than box scores to study in preparation for Wednesday night’s game.
But those box scores seemed to be enough as the No. 4 Bruins squeaked past the Lancers at Pauley Pavilion, 30-27, 26-30, 18-30, 30-21, 15-12, to improve their record to 7-3. The Bruins remain at 4-2 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
The Bruins’ ability to adjust and endure a long match showed with their second straight five-game victory.
“We didn’t know anything about this team,” coach Al Scates said. “(Opposite Donald Baliaba) is a veteran player, we had a tough time with him.”
The Bruins defense suffered 14 kills from Baliaba but held him to a .122 clip. Cal Baptist outside hitter Adiel Tiedjop had a stunning performance from the back, recording 28 kills and a .684 clip.
The best news of the night for the Bruins was sophomore outside hitter Dylan Bowermaster, who started his first match since injuring his quadriceps tendon in early January. Though only playing the first two games, Bowermaster seemed to be showing improvement.
“(Bowermaster) came out pretty strong early and I think as he gets in shape and gets a little more experience he will get better and better,” coach Brian Rofer said.
Scates added Bowermaster is not all the way back to the high level of play he showed in January, before the injury.
But as lucky as UCLA may have been to get Bowermaster back in the lineup, they saw their share of bad luck, too. Both Muagututia as well as true freshman Weston Dunlap were unable to play because of a respiratory infection.
Rofer explained that the illnesses were not that serious and added Muagututia will likely be ready on Friday when the Bruins face the defending NCAA champions, UC Irvine.
The Bruins will surely hope that Friday’s matchup isn’t as close as the contest with Cal Baptist.
After falling behind two games to one and squeezing out a weak .075 hitting percentage in the third game, the Bruins turned their play around.
Scates explained that due to their little knowledge of the Lancers’ play, the Bruins needed a few games to figure out their play and make the right adjustments.
“This happened last year where we play three games and figure out what they are going do and what they want to do and we take it away from them late in the match,” Scates said.
“The guys who came off the bench played awesome, it’s always a huge lift,” junior quick hitter Jamie Diefenbach said. “(Jeff Woodley) is one of the biggest sparks off the bench and (Sean) O’Malley also did a good job. They made a huge impact.”
Woodley was a major contributor to the Bruins’ success late in the game with six kills in the last two games and a .364 clip. O’Malley recorded nine kills with an efficient .421 clip in the last three games for the Bruins.
O’Malley and Woodley, and Diefenbach led the Bruins in their late game surge.
The win starts a very important homestand for the Bruins. They play UC Irvine, USC and Pepperdine in their next contests, all at Pauley Pavilion.